Yes, Master
by Queen Lucetta
Summary: Leon "wins" Vishnal in a card game, and so decides to have fun tormenting him.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Happy birthday Kara, I'm probably not going to have the time or money to do the crazy Halloween party thing this year, but that doesn't mean I can't bring the candy haha. Anyway, enjoy and hopefully it'll be a great year!

* * *

Shifting eyes and cold sweats abounded around the table while the card game was coming to a close. It seemed like everyone was losing big time, except for Leon, who was grinning snidely and completely cool. The fox had yet to lose a single hand, mainly because he could read everyone like a book, and bluff with legendary believability. They were down to their last hands, just Leon, Clorica, and Volkanon. Vishnal was nearby dusting, but even he was growing increasingly nervous at the possible debt his fellow butlers were incurring.

"Alright everyone, let's see what you got." Leon said, still grinning.

Volkanon and Clorica reluctantly revealed their hands, and the fox chuckled, showing his. "Looks like I win again. Let's see, after all day of losing, you now owe me 99,000,785,926,901 gold." Leon's voice held no remorse, on the contrary he was having an unbelievably good time. The other two butlers sighed, but it seemed like somehow they knew it would turn out this way.

Vishnal nearly had a heart attack upon hearing such a ridiculous number. He tried to keep his calm and indifferent demeanor and focus on his cleaning while pretending not to be listening in, but the scene unravelling before him held the entirety of his attention.

"I suppose I can't argue with that." Volkanon said, tearing up. "B-but how am I ever going to pay it off!? Waahhh!"

The ever diligent Vishnal couldn't help but overhear this, and immediately tensed up again. He too was worried about might happen if Leon demanded payment, but he didn't think Leon would actually impose the payment. Clorica remained silent, as if she didn't have any investment in what was going on.

"Shouldn't make bets you can't cash." Leon said slyly. "I expect payment by tomorrow morning, or else." His voice remained playful, Clorica had already fallen asleep, and Volkanon sighed. It was always difficult to tell if the fox was being serious or not, and so Vishnal took everything he said as the truth.

"I suppose I have no choice, but, I don't think I can make it in time…" Volkanon said, though seemingly a lot less broken up about it all of a sudden.

"That's fine." Leon said, lightly fanning himself. "If you can't pay, I could always accept payment in other ways…"

Vishnal perked up, incredibly tense and worrying about Leon might ask for.

"Alright, name your price."

"Hmmm, I don't want much, I just ask that you be my slave…"

At that, Vishnal panicked and approached. There was no way he could allow this to happen and had to do something. "Wait! You can't take Mr. Volkanon!"

Everyone at the table focussed on Vishanal, now hysterical. Even Clorica was stirred awake, and the other two were left dumbfounded and speechless. Although Leon was caught off guard, he was still intrigued by this development.

Vishnal swallowed, now acutely aware of the eyes on him. "Um, if it's a servant you want, take me instead!" He closed his eyes then, and shook a little. Volkanon was too important to take, so the least he could do was tribute himself for the sake of Ventuswill and Frey. He only hoped he wouldn't be rejected, especially since his value as a butler was far below that of his senior.

Leon raised an eyebrow, but the senior butler was the first to speak. "Erm, I don't think that's necessary…"

"Nonsense! You're too important to Selphia Mr. Volkanon! I- I will gladly take your place. For the good of the castle and all of Selphia, I'll pay off your debt with my very life!"

"Interesting." The fox said, playing along. "Are you prepared to do whatever I say, when I say it without question?"

Vishnal hung his head, knowing he'd have to agree. "Yes, of course…"

"No matter what?"

"Erm, well, I'm not going to murder anyone, if that's what you're getting at…" Vishnal said, now very hesitant. He didn't really think the fox would ask something like that, but he just had to make sure before he pledged himself.

Leon grinned, apparently that was just the answer he was looking for. "Allow me to clarify, are you prepared to do whatever I say, no matter how humiliating, no matter how difficult, whenever I want, wherever I want, exactly as I want, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone?"

"Yes." He said, bowing his head.

"Well great. I guess I'll be taking my payment then." The fox said with a grin. His gaze fixed on Volkanon for the briefest of moments, just to see that glorious dumbfounded on the senior butler's face. He made a motion with his finger for Vishnal to follow, which he did with his eyes cast down. The day was still young, so there was still time for Leon to make use of his new servant's services. Vishnal had already resigned himself to giving up his free will until the debt was paid off.

As they left the room, Vishnal looked back at his fellow butlers apologetically. Following Leon out, he left his fellow butlers completely bewildered at what just transpired.

There was a heavy silence as the remaining butlers contemplated what just happened. "He is aware that the game's made up and the gold doesn't matter, right? And that we don't actually owe Leon anything?" Clorica asked more as a rhetorical question than a legitimate inquiry.

"I'm afraid his excitability has gotten the better of him, yet again…" Volkanon lamented. "I can only assume he'll realise his error and come back to work some time tomorrow."

"…Somehow I don't think that's going to happen. Zzz…" This topic no longer interested her, though she might mention it to the girls at Meg's slumber party later. Right now she was more concerned with getting a nap in before getting back to work.

Volkanon sighed, but then nudged Clorica awake. With Vishnal gone, they'd have to work harder to make up for his absence. At least they wouldn't have to suffer his cooking for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Admittedly not my best work haha. Sorry Kara.

* * *

Leon laid a towel down on the floor, gesturing for Vishnal to come. The butler complied, though he was confused.

"You'll be sleeping here." He said, trying to make it known that he didn't put much effort into it. At that he passed down a pillow, because he wasn't totally heartless.

"Alright, before that, what would you have me do?"

Leon chuckled. "We're going to have to talk about how you're going to address me. From now on, you will call me 'Master,' yeah. Are we clear so far?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?" The fox said with a sly grin.

At first Vishnal didn't understand what Leon was asking, but eventually it clicked and he replied, "yes, Master."

"Good." He chuckled. "And for now, you just go to bed. I've got some shopping to do." He gestured then for Vishnal to lie down. Vishnal bowed his head and laid himself out. He wanted to protest and complain that it was still early, and that if Leon needed to do some shopping it would be more practical to send him, but he knew better and remained silent. Obediently he stretched himself out on the towel but didn't close his eyes. Leon just grinned then, assuming his obedient servant wouldn't leave the designated sleeping area. "Well, good night." He said, and then left.

Vishnal ended up lying there alone for what seemed like hours. He wasn't exactly sure when he fell asleep, but he was jolted awake by Leon who he didn't remember returning to the room. "Morning sunshine." The fox said with a grin. "I got you a new uniform. You will wear it while you're working for me."

"Yes- Master." Vishnal said with a yawn. He stood and took the uniform, and his face dropped. While he wasn't exactly too thrilled about Leon's choice in fashion, he could at least look on the bright side in that it could have been a lot worse. He was holding what appeared to be a French maid style dress, complete with a frilly hair piece and a comically colourful feather duster with a leg mounted holster. In all honesty, he really appreciated a holstered duster, and thought about installing one on his regular uniform.

"Go put that on and make me breakfast. I prefer highly toxic meals loaded with poison."

"Uh, are you sure?" He couldn't tell if it was a sarcastic remark, so he wasn't going to make it until he was sure.

"Don't question me."

"Yes Master." He bowed his head then, and made his way downstairs. Quickly he got changed in the bathroom before the inn opened and humbly asked Lin Fa for the use of her kitchen.

"Sure thing Vishnal. By the way, you look different."

"Um, well…" He didn't really know to respond to that, and just entered the kitchen. He checked the fridge and found a lamp squid, figuring that should suffice as a poisonous thing to serve Leon. He sighed knowing that his dish would be a disaster, but since the fox said he liked poisonous things, there was a good chance he'd like Vishnal's cooking.

When Vishnal returned to Leon's room, the fox was casually laying on his bed reading something. Vishnal bowed to him and presented his dish but said nothing all the while.

Leon looked up but his expression didn't change. "Thanks slave." He sized up the meal he was presented. Apparently Vishnal took his instructions a little too literally, as there was no way this could ever be considered edible, even by Leon's standards. Though, he tired it anyway, being Leon and all. After one bite he'd had enough. "You know, maybe you should finish this off."

Vishnal appeared to hesitate before complying. Leon watched as he choked down his own cooking. "How did it taste?" The fox asked with a sly grin.

The butler attempted to answer, but found himself unable to speak.

"Ah, I see it took your breath away."

Vishnal said nothing, but he did look despondent. Leon eventually rolled his eyes. "I'll get you a roundoff later. For now I need you clean up around the lobby. They let me stay for free, so the least I can do to repay them is do some chores around the place."

The butler nodded, apparently pleased that he was put to work doing something he was familiar with. He went down the stairs to the lobby, still in full dress, and began tidying to the delight of Lin Fa and Xiao Pai.

Eventually Leon appeared and gave Vishnal the roundoff he promised. A quick look around and a nod indicated that he was pleased with the job. Vishnal took the roundoff and Leon began his explanation of the day's events. "Today we're going to put all of our effort into getting a rise out of Forte. She already suspects this kind of thing out of me, but I'm sure we'll catch her off guard if it's you."

"Very well, but why Forte?"

"She has the best reactions." He said with a broad, nearly voracious grin. "So innocent and sincere. She tries so hard to be staunch and powerful, but slight her even a little bit and she devolves into confusion and frustration."

"Well, whatever you say Master. What should I do?"

"I'm thinking something absurd. How about giving her the runaround, acting like monsters invaded and you need her help to stop it."

"…Yes Master." He said despondently. "Should I make up the monsters, or-"

"Just react dramatically to the stuff around town. That should be good enough." He said, not giving any more direction. "I'll watch."

"Alright…" Vishnal wandered around for a while, in search of Forte. She was near the gates, patrolling. The butler cleared his throat and approached. He tried to will himself into a pseudo panic, and was fairly convincing, "Forte! Help! Monsters have taken over the town!"

Forte jolted up, and turned her attention to Vishnal. She had to do a double take on his attire though. "Vishnal? What's with that outfit?"

"Erm, well, there's been a change to the standard issued uniform." He cleared his throat nervously, but then continued. "Quickly, I need your help!" He dragged her a little, and she followed after him. He didn't know exactly what to do, so he settled on the first thing that came into his head. They stopped in front of the general store. "Look, monsters!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Look up there!" He pointed to the general store sign, feeling ridiculous. He couldn't think of anything, so he just made it up as he went along. "It's a vicious, man eating turnip!"

Forte hesitated, looking up at the sign briefly before turning attention back to Vishnal. He didn't notice right away, but she stared deep into his eyes to see if he was high or otherwise intoxicated. His pupils weren't dilated and he didn't appear to be on anything. "Are you feeling okay? You didn't eat anything weird did you?"

"I had lamp squid and a roundoff earlier." Vishnal said, breaking character for a second. "Oh, but that's not important, we need to stop the bad guys! I think- maybe."

"Uh huh." She raised an eyebrow. For some reason she figured he was having a bad reaction to the roundoff, or maybe even the lamp squid. "Well, you hold off the monsters, and I'll get back up, okay?"

"I really think you should do it." Vishnal said, now looking around nervously for Leon.

"I think you can handle it." She said, rolling her eyes and leaving.

Vishnal stood there, feeling silly and defeated. Not long after Forte was out of sight, Leon approached, a bland look of annoyance on his face. "That could have gone better. You need to work on, well, everything."

"I'm sorry Master, I didn't really know how to do it…"

"That's fine. We'll just have to catch her off guard and try again later."

Vishnal hesitated, but decided to speak what was on his mind. "Permission to ask a question, Master?"

"Technically you just did, but I will allow another."

"Are we going to prank someone other than Forte, or is there some kind of goal that we're working toward?"

"Hmm, that is a good question. I don't really have an end goal, I just like pranking Forte because of her reactions." His expression remained neutral. "Sooner or later she's going to catch on, and it won't be fun anymore. Then we'll find a new target."

"Oh, is that it?" A voice came from nearby, startling the butler but not the fox. She was obviously not happy. "Vishnal, I'm disappointed in you. I expect this childishness from Leon, but not you!" Though, Forte was still slightly confused as to why Vishnal was suddenly working with Leon.

"I'm sorry." The butler said, holding his head in shame.

"I didn't tell you to do that." Leon said in a bland voice, causing Forte to raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry Master." He said in a defeated voice, causing even more confusion to the knight.

"Er, I don't really know what's going on here, but I hope you'll come to your senses and keep better company. And as for you Leon, I don't know what kind of game you're up to, but leave Vishnal out of it."

The fox grinned, despite his dissatisfaction at being found out this early. "Oh, he's here of his own free will, aren't you Vishnal?"

"…Yes Master."

"You guys are creeping me out." She declared. "What's going on here?"

"Oh? Vishnal here is my indentured servant."

Her expression became indignant and she huffed. "I don't know what kind of sick game you both are playing, but leave me out of it! And stop getting Vishnal to do your dirty work!" She then went back to whatever it was she was doing before getting interrupted.

The butler remained still and silent, as if awaiting further instruction. Leon remained silent too, as if contemplating where they should go from here.

"So uh, was my performance to your liking Master?"

"It could have gone better, but it'll be fine for now." He closed his fan and gestured for Vishnal to follow. The day was still young, and he had a few more ideas to fill out the time.


	3. Chapter 3

Already Vishnal had become accustomed to being ordered around. His adaptability was so legendary it even surprised Vishnal. No matter what Leon asked, he'd complete it without fail. He was ordered to make himself a turnip stir-fry, and succeeded without even screwing up his face in disgust. He was ordered to work in a chipsqueek outfit, and did so without complaint. He was ordered to walk into the women's bath, but then he politely declined with the excuse of that contradicting the 'no harm to others' rule. Somehow he managed to get Xiao Pai to agree with him, and Leon reluctantly conceded. By the end of the second day, Leon was more burnt out than the butler and was starting to feel regret.

"Hey Vishnal, why don't you jump in a lake?"

"Yes Master, should I pick up the cans and boots while I'm there?"

Leon paused, contemplating if Vishnal was being serious or not. "On second thought, why don't you buy me 10,000 turnips."

"Yes Master."

"And then eat them one by one before me."

"All at once?"

"Of course."

"I will try Master."

The fox's face dropped at such compliance. "You know, I don't really feel like that anymore. How about instead, you could…" He was quickly running out of ideas, and decided to go for something that Vishnal would surely protest, even just a little. "Lick my boots."

"Yes Master." He said, bending down.

"No, no. Stop." He said with a defeated sigh. "Don't actually do that. Say, why don't you just go investigate the suspicious spot in the Yokmir Forest? That should at least take the rest of the day."

"Yes Master." He said finally, taking his leave without complaint.

Leon sighed, and started wandering, his mind full of questions. At first he thought it would be fun to torment Vishnal, but recently it seems like Vishnal wasn't tormented at all.

Eventually he happened upon Kiel, who was reading a book while eating some pudding. He figured now would be a good time to vent his disappointment with the brother of his most enjoyable target. He took a seat next to him and said nothing, waiting for the other to engage him.

"Hey Leon, I heard that you and Vishnal are doing some weird S&M thing?" He said completely straight. His expression didn't change, and he had nothing else to add.

The fox chuckled, as Kiel's innocence was always amusing to him. "That's not exactly it. I sort of won him playing cards, he gave himself to me to pay off Volkanon's debt. But anyway, the only rules are that he has to do whatever I say."

"Wow!" Kiel said, apparently impressed. "I bet this frees you up a lot!"

"Well, I don't know about that. I did get him to do some chores for me, but after that…" He sighed. His thoughts had since straightened out and he fully understood the problem he had with such an arrangement. "He just does everything I say without question. I never thought having absolute control over someone could be so-"

"Freeing? Empowering? Amazing?"

"-Boring."

"Boring?"

Leon sighed. "It was fun at first, but I want a bit of a struggle you know? I want him to get angry, I want him to show some kind of defiance."

"Probably should have gone after someone other than Vishnal then." Kiel said plainly.

Leon fell silent, as he was well aware that Kiel was correct. He sighed. "I guess I had it coming. Though, I still want to see him defy me. I was thinking about ordering him to suck my-"

Kiel choked on the pudding he was eating. "You wouldn't actually say that though, would you?"

"Not to Vishnal. Knowing him, he'd probably do it, and then it'd just be awkward." Leon explained. "I don't know though, I'm just burnt out."

"You could always say his debt is paid and he's free to go."

"That just seems so boring." Leon said blandly. "But I guess it can't be helped. Once he comes back from the forest, I'll tell him his debt is paid and he's free to go."

"He's in the forest?"

"Yeah, I just sent him there so I could be rid of him for a while." He didn't seem all that concerned. "I think he'll b able to handle himself for a while anyway."

"I dunno, this IS Vishnal we're talking about."

Suddenly Leon grinned. "Yeah, you're right."

(Meanwhile, at the forest)

The butler was dutifully searching the suspicious spot, only because he remembered Frey telling him about it long ago. While he couldn't figure out what was so suspicious about it, he was determined to figure out the mystery. He was so into his investigation that he was completely oblivious to someone approaching behind him. He was snapped out of his musings when a fist launched him into the air, causing him to yell incoherently in terror. Before he could hit the ground, he was caught, presumably by whoever launched him there in the first place.

There was a pause, but the mysterious attacker spoke first. "Vishnal?"

"Oh, good day Princess." He said nonchalantly as if nothing happened.

"Why are you dressed like a Chipsqueek?"

"Oh, I was ordered to by my Master. I'd say it's even better than what he made me wear yesterday."

Frey raised an eyebrow. "Your master?"

"I regret to inform you that Mr. Volkanon has incurred some debt, so I'm paying it off by becoming an indentured servant."

"Isn't that what you are already?"

Vishnal pouted, and Frey looked at him apologetically. She continued, "But who's your master?"

"Leon. Mr. Volkanon has incurred 99,000,785,926,901 gold in debt, so to free him up, I became Leon's slave in his place."

"Wow, you butlers sure do take your games seriously." She said, contemplating. "I owe Leon 669,124,449,723,911 gold, but like, it's just for fun. It's more or less a score sheet, no one actually expects to be paid."

Vishnal paused for a second, synthesizing the information he just heard. "Wait, it's just a game?"

"The gold is all part of it. No one actually owes Leon anything. If we did, he'd be a very rich man."

"Then- then you mean this was all for nothing?!" Vishnal said, more panicked than angry.

"I don't know if Volkanon takes the game more seriously, but as far as I know, it's just a points system."

"No way! I'm going to be killed for skipping work then!" He leapt out of Frey's arms and tore off the chipsqueek costume (with his usual uniform conveniently underneath) and took off to confront (in the nicest way possible) his master before grovelling to his superior.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Happy Halloween. Kind of an anticlimactic end but eh.

* * *

Vishnal made his way back to Selphia, ready to confront the fox with all of the anger and indignation he had built up. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold onto that anger for long, and by the time he made it back to Selphia he was completely cooled off. It wasn't in his nature to stay angry for long. He still planned to give him an earful, but he didn't know how well that would go.

Once he made it back, he found Leon casually chatting with Kiel. The butler approached with the most indignant expression he could muster and strode right up to him. "Leon!"

The two looked up, Leon's expression didn't change. "Oh, you're back already? And what happened to your uniform?"

"That's not important! I just wanted to say that my service to you ends now!"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What brought this on now?" It wasn't like he was upset, on the contrary he was pleased that things were going his way once more.

Vishnal swallowed and tried to collect his thoughts. "I ran into Frey in the forest, and she told me all about your game."

Leon looked disappointed, but not too broken up. "Well, I guess it was bound to happen eventually. As your master, I hereby end your service."

"You were never my master to begin with!" Vishnal said indignantly, then huffed and walked off.

Leon looked at Kiel, who seemed deeply impressed. "Well, that worked out well." The smaller said, his voice full of intrigue.

"Yeah, I guess I can't argue with results." Leon said nonchalantly with a shrug.

-At the Castle-

Vishnal came bolting up to the butler's room, ready to beg and grovel for forgiveness from Volkanon for shirking work. As he entered the room, the senior butler regarded him as usual. "Good afternoon Vishnal, how's your service to Leon going?" His tone was completely calm.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know your game was just- a game…"

"It's alright, I just expect you to complete all of the work you missed by sundown today."

"Yes sir! Right away sir!"

-The next day-

Leon waited by the gates, he had heard from Kiel that Forte would be coming by soon, and waited eagerly to start his torment. Though, she seemed to be running late, and the fox was growing somewhat impatient.

"Looking for someone?" A stern and not at all impressed voice said.

The fox's ears twitched and he looked behind him to see Forte. He raised an eyebrow, but his expression remained neutral. "Good morning." He said casually.

"Don't give me that, I know all about what you're planning." She wasn't pleased, she was as annoyed as she always was.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, I'm on to you and I'm not falling for any of your pranks. Stop acting so childish." With that she left.

Leon was left feeling perplexed, but out of the corner of his eye, he could Vishnal in the distance, whispering around, no doubt telling the villagers all about his secrets. The fox grinned then. This was going to be an interesting few days.


End file.
